DD shit naps - can someone remind me it'll improve?

[CremeDeSudo]

DD is 16wks today and so far has had 2x 30min naps, 1x 10min nap and has currently been asleep for 10mins in the pram. I daren't stop rocking the pram as she'll wake up.

In between those naps she has generally been miserable as she is still tired. Nothing I do, NOTHING, makes her nap for longer. It's actually making me ridiculously wound up and even slightly anxious.

Can someone please remind me that this is just phase, and naps will get better. If she wakes up before at least 45mins I think I might punch something. Or maybe cry. Or probably both.

25 fucking minutes. I haven't stopped rocking.

Mine were both like this at that age. It's a very short phase, even though it seems endless at the time! I can't remember when they grew out of it exactly, but it can't have been more than two months. Stay strong, it'll pass!

Yeah that was my daughter too. Unfortunately she didn't really get over the 30 minute naps til she was about 9 months so would often have 3 or 4 naps a day at least. She would sometimes take one longer one each day if we swaddled her which nursery figured out so we restarted swaddling her at about 5 months. Car was a dead cert too so would try to get a longer one once a day driving round for ages She just randomly stopped this summer and went to 2 solid naps of at least an hour. I got obsessed about naps for a while but nothing changed it so just had to go with the flow and accept that it was a developmental thing for her. Good luck!

DS was the same. I naively thought that 'no two babies are the same' except mine are apparently very bloody similar!

I can't remember when his improved, I think after 6months when I sleep trained him. At least I can theorize they'll improve before 9 months!!

Just tried napping with her, dark, white noise. 30mins.

DS couldn’t link nap cycles until he was nearly one. When he dropped to two 40 minute naps from 5am - 7pm that was fun. Suddenly it clicked and at 2.5 he’s still napping a good 1.5 hours at lunch. Most get it eventually! DC2 due any day now so writing this as much for myself as anything

Ugh God... those were dark days. I feel for you OP.

No nap lasted more than 30 minutes. Sleep training made it worse. Thank God night time was better... he'd sleep longer then but still needed night feeds.

I remember walking around the house, pacing like a maniac whilst he had colic. Bouncing on a fucking maternity ball, holding him in my arms, rocking him to sleep. Fuck, it was exhausting and I genuinely thought it would never end.

At 6 months he finally started napping longer than 30 mins.

Now, he naps for an hour or two at midday. And he sleeps reasonably at night.

It will get there. There's light at the end of the tunnel... It just seems to be really, really small... But it is there!! 😂

The glorious 4 month sleep regression! How I still have hair left after that I’ll never know.

When dd got about 20 weeks she suddenly started napping consistently at the same time every day. It was amazing. So it does get better! But it’s ridiculous how evil you feel whilst you’re going through it. Dd has started waking up every hour again and she’s nearly 2, the little madam.

Handhold, dd 15 weeks is exactly the same. No matter what I do. I can walk with pram for 3 hours and it's only ever 30 mins! Such a misery between naps. Night times are also awful. Bloody sleep regression, it's got to be.

Ds1 was like this. He had colic and undiagnosed digestive issues. We worked out how to handle this by the time Ds2 came along with the same issue. Both needed extreme winding/burping before they would have a nice long nap. Ds2 also benefited greatly with a dummy (which he naturally rejected at 10mo) both were comfort suckers. Ds1 started having lovely long 3hr nap at 15mo when I stopped bf. Ds2 I also put to sleep on his side propped with towels. Ds1 would bf constantly for comfort I think he had constant tummy ache. Ds2 would have a quick 5min b'feed and then I'd pop his dummy in and off he went to sleep.
That's my experience, hope it helps . You need to figure out of its a developmental phase or some underlying comfort issue.
Good luck and don't worry this time will phase eventually.

Yes DS had quite bad reflux so I always put his shit naps down to that. DD has shown mild signs of silent reflux so she's on gaviscon for it. I'm fairly certain it's developmental.

She has a dummy. I'm currently putting it back in far too many times a night. I'm starting to dread the nights tbh, and the weeks to come. DS had a dummy and when he hit the 4mth sleep regression I was putting it back I'm 10+ times a night, caving and bringing him to bed with me to continue putting it back in his mouth the rest of the night. I'm convinced DD is going to be the same.

I'm gutted as I really wanted to be more relaxed about naps this time round, but I just can't be! Shit naps stress me out!

Don’t put extra pressure on yourself, I also couldn’t relax with a miserable baby when I knew he was shattered. Just do what you need to to get through it. It’s crap, I know.

I would have bet good money before I opened this thread that your baby would be around the 4 month mark. DD's daytime sleep was hideous at this age and after two consecutive days of no daytime sleep at all and her looking absolutely shocking with big red eyes, I actually asked our GP's advice which I followed and it did work:

Focus on the big middle of the day nap and consistently put baby in the cot at that time ten days running. At first it won't work but by day ten the message will start getting through and a habit will form. It really did work so could be worth a try. I've used this ten days to instigate a few other changes and really find it useful as it helps me not give up too quickly.

But anyway I really came on here to say don't despair. By 5.5m we had all three daytime naps sorted.

Thank you for the constructive advice (and thank you for those reminding me it could go on and on and on, just what I needed to hear )

I wasn't sure about it being the regression yet as she was born at 36wks so I'm supposed to adjust accordingly..it gets very confusing!

I know it's a phase, I've survived it before and I'll do so again...nonetheless it's so bloody frustrating. I do not cope well with shit naps! Nervous at what's to come, but my 5yr old is/was brilliant sleeper in the end so I know it can be done!

Honestly don't worry about these specified sleep regressions. My antenatal group and another friendship group of mums have all come to the conclusion it's utter twaddle. Occasionally a baby will have a phase of poor sleep at the right time to coincide with one of the labelled regressions but it really isn't a good predictor. I also think it's incredibly unhelpful for parents to feel that they have no control over it because it's a regression, or to label any rough phase as one of the regressions when there could be other things going on (teeth, windy phase etc.)